RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS, PART 2

In the previous article about responsibility, we began discussion of the concept of Arvus - that all Jews are responsible for one another. Rav Aharon Kotler discusses this idea at length. He brings the Tomer Devorah in the name of early sources that all the souls of Israel are intrinsically bound together as one spiritual entity. We normally understand our obligation to rebuke our fellow Jew as a mitzvo like any other - if we fulfil the mitzvo we receive reward, and if we do not, we are punished. Rav Aharon writes that the factor of Arvus works on a much deeper level - if we help another Jew in his mitzvo observance, then our own merits increase, very much in the same way as if we in fact did the mitzvo ourselves. And if we do not prevent him from sinning when we could have, then we are damaged as if we sinned ourselves. (Mishnas Rebbe Aharon, Chelek 1, Ch.10, p.243-4). In a similar vein, Rav Chaim Vital writes on the mitzvo to love your fellow Jew, “you must realize that all Israel form a single body… every single Jew is like an individual limb. This is the (reason for the) responsibility that every Jew bears for every other Jew that sins.” (Likutey Torah, Taamey haMitzvos Vayikra 19:18).

This reality has come to the fore in Jewish history many times. The classic case of this is that of Achan. When Yehoshua conquered Jericho, he dedicated all the spoil to G-d. Achan, however, violated this dedication and took a few things from the spoil for himself. Even though only a single person had sinned, the Navi says, “the children of Israel committed a sin with regard to the devoted spoil. For Achan … took the devoted thing, and G-ds anger was kindled against Israel.” (Yehoshua 7:1) As a result of this misdeed, G-d’s protection was removed from Israel and they suffered their first defeat in the battle of Ai. The Medrash gives an analogy to help understand how a whole nation could suffer because of one person. “Rav Shimon bar Yochai gave an example. A number of people were sitting in a ship. One of them took a drill and began making holes in the hull. The others asked him, “what do you think you are doing?” The driller replied, “what business is it of yours? I am only drilling under my own seat.” They answered, “when water fills the ship, it will sink with all of us!” (Vayikra Rabbah 4:6).

Another notable instance of Arvus is found in sefer Ezra. A small number of people had married gentiles, and nothing had been done to prevent them from this grave sin. When Ezra heard about his, he gathered everyone to the Temple to repent and pray for forgiveness. While there, Shechania ben Yechiel (who had not sinned) cried out saying, “we have sinned against our G-d and have taken in alien women.” (Ezra 10:2) The Malbim asks, why did he say “we” have sinned, when he and most of the people had not, indeed only a very small number of people were guilty? He answers that the intermarriage was considered a national sin, because it was committed in public and the leaders did not protest, therefore, “the sin was considered as if it came from the general populace, because of the reason of Arvus.” (Ibid.) Even though less than one percent of the people had actually intermarried, all of them were included in accepting guilt, to the extent that it was as if they had intermarried themselves.

This example from Ezra is an ominous message for our generation when more than fifty percent of all Jews are intermarrying. It teaches us that the rampant assimilation is not merely a problem that other Jews face. Rather it is our own problem, and we are responsible to do whatever we can to stem it. May we all merit to see the day when all Jews cling to the ways of their ancestors.
　

RESPONSIBILTY FOR OTHERS

In the past few months we have discussed the damage to Kavod Shamayim caused by the secularization of the majority of Jews in the world. We saw the need to strive to increase the Kavod Shamayim by bringing unaffiliated Jews back to their roots. There is another aspect of our Avodas Hashem that relates to helping our fellow Jew: That related to taking responsibility for others.

The Mishna in Sanhedrin (37a) says “every person is obligated to say ‘the world was created for me’”. On superficial analysis it would seem that the Mishna is preaching a self-centered approach to life, ‘the world was created for me, therefore I can do whatever I like with it’. Of course this is not the case; it is true that every person should realize that he is of great intrinsic value and that everything in the world is there for his benefit. However, the Mishna is also teaching us that one must tell himself ‘since the world was created for me, I am responsible for that world. The Jewish people in particular have been designated with this awesome task - Hashem calls us a “Kingdom of Priests” and “a Light unto the nations.” It is our job to bring the world to an awareness of Hashem and His Greatness.

It is within the Jewish people itself that the sense of mutual responsibility really comes to the fore. “You are all standing here today” (Devarim 29:9) - all of you are guarantors for each other… when one of you sins, the whole generation is damaged.” (Medrash Tanchuma, Parshas Nitzavim). Chazal tell us that at Mount Gerizim every individual Jew accepted with forty-eight covenants the responsibility for the fulfilment of mitzvos both with regards himself and all of the Jewish people. As a result every single Jew is spiritually bound up with every other Jew, and every action we take, whether positive or negative, directly effects everyone else. This concept is known as Arvus, (translated as mutual responsibility) it is not merely an idea in Aggadah and Mussar, rather it has numerous ramifications in our daily lives.

The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 29b) informs us of a fascinating halacha. When a person is obligated in a mitzvo, for example, kiddush on Shabbos, he must do the mitzvo with the bracho and then he has fulfilled his obligation. To say kiddush again with another bracho would constitute saying Hashem’s name in vain. However, the Gemara tells us, if Reuven needs to fulfil kiddush himself but is unable to, then Shimon is allowed to make kiddush again with the bracho, thereby exempting Reuven from his obligation! How can this be? The Ran explains, “because every Jew is a guarantor for each other in mitzvos, and since his friend has not fulfilled his obligation, it is as if he did not fulfil the mitzvo himself.” (ibid.) It is thus very apparent that Arvus is a halachic reality- my friend’s avodas Hashem is a part of my own. We often discuss responsibility to oneself and responsibility to others as two separate, perhaps even conflicting factors. This seems to be an inaccurate assessment - rather the two are not separate at all, they go hand in hand - the benefit of my friend is my benefit as well, his pain is my pain, and his mistakes are my mistakes. In fact, it would seem that to consider my spiritual well-being as separate from that of others is fundamentally incorrect. This concept of Arvus is the foundation upon which collective responsibility is based - in the coming months we will discuss how vital it is to our Avodas Hashem.